1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the application of information to microscope slides and histology cassettes, especially by printing on microscope slides and histology cassettes. In particular, the invention is directed to an automatic system for printing on a microscope slide or a histology embedding cassette. The invention is further directed to the scaling of printed matter onto a microscope slide or a histology embedding cassette. The invention is particularly directed to the printing of data onto items of this kind in a manner such that when sealed, the print is not removed by any subsequent operations involving contacting the items (i.e. slides or cassettes) with chemicals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Throughout the world, steps are being taken to improve the legibility of data written onto microscope slides and cassettes. Due to the chemical processes that these items have to pass through after they have been prepared with a sample, it has been inherently difficult to improve on the currently used system of writing in pencil onto such slides or cassettes. As slides or cassettes of this kind in most cases have to be archived for many years, legibility is a real issue addressed by the present invention. Untold stress can be caused to a patient if a sample goes astray due to losing its identification marking during processing. Often another sample has to be acquired, which can cause further severe anxiety to the patient. Another area addressed by the present invention is the amount of data that can be printed onto a slide or cassette. It is not possible with present methods to place much information onto the small area at the end of a slide and the even smaller area on the front edge of a histology cassette. The present invention is also directed therefore to enabling the printing of a greater quantity of data than before.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,786 issued to Kavanaugh discloses a method of marking a slide by etching away areas of a coating, using a laser, to form machine readable coding. More specifically, on a microscope slide having a glass plate, a marking surface coating is provided on an area of the glass plate, and indicia are formed by etching away portions of the marking surface coating. The marking surface coating may comprise an epoxy resin material, a ceramic material, or any other substance capable of being affixed as a layer onto a glass surface. The indicia may include machine-readable indicia, human-readable indicia, or both machine-readable and human-readable indicia. In order to produce accurate, high-quality indicia, a laser directed by a computer controller may be used to etch away portions of the marking surface coating. There is provided a method of marking a microscope slide having an upper surface and a lower surface, a marking surface formed of a coating being affixed to at least a portion of one of the upper and lower surfaces of the microscope slide. In a further marking step, there is etched into the coating, a configuration which exposes a corresponding portion of the microscope slide and thereby defines a substantially permanent identifying indicia in the coating of the microscope slide. This patent teaches away from the direct printing of readable data on the end of a conventional microscope slide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,556 issued to Weissman discloses a method for providing a high density recording medium, in the form of a magnetic strip or an optical reading strip, on one side of a microscope slide, thus allowing data to be permanently stored on the slide and to be read by or written to using a computer system or the like. According to this U.S. patent, in a microscope slide read-write system, the slide has a pathology specimen on it and also machine-readable high density recording media in the form of a magnetic strip, an optical reading strip or the like. The read-write system accommodates initial writing of slide and patient identification information on the recording media, as well as further elements for operative connection to a microscope system for recordal of a computer-generated representation of the screening history of a pathology specimen, this history to be maintained during pathology analysis of the slide to show the mode and parameters of the analysis as well as position-related events of interest. The computer-generated screening representation is written to the recording media by the read-write system for consequent proximate availability with the slide. In a system for providing a pathology slide having a specimen on the slide with integral recordation of parameters of the manner in which microscope screening of the specimen is affected and interpretation of the results of the screening analysis of the specimen, for proximate review without need for external data sources, a microscopy viewable slide has two sides, the specimen being on one side. The slide also has a machine-writeable and readable recording medium on it with a storage capacity of at least 70 bytes. The recording medium has long-term stability and is provided on the slide at a position removed from the position of the specimen or alternatively at a position in visual alignment with this specimen. The system also includes means for writing relevant information relative to a source of the specimen on the recording medium, means for reading and displaying the relevant source information, and means for recording information of screening parameters and analysis of the specimen during screening, as well as means for downloading the recorded information to the recording medium for subsequent retrieval. This patent teaches away from conventional marking techniques and the use of conventional slides.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,241 to Yang provides a microscope slide treated to provide frosted or etched surfaces along the sides of the slide. One of the frosted surfaces is covered with a colour coating and the treated surfaces may be selectably marked with conventional ink or pencil markings. The invention is directed to avoiding the necessity to apply labels or separate materials to the slides, in order to record information. The invention is further directed to providing a slide surface which will ensure permanent retention of identification markings to facilitate identification of specific slides. According to this patent, there is therefore provided a microscope slide having a body portion with an upper and a lower surface, each defining a plane. A segment of the upper surface includes a first frosted surface area which does not extend outwardly beyond the plane defined by the upper surface. A segment of the lower surface also includes a second frosted surface area which likewise does not extend outwardly beyond the plane defined by the lower surface. A colour coating is applied to the first frosted surface area in such a manner as to form a coated frosted surface area which does not extend outwardly beyond the plane of the upper surface. The coated frosted surface area and the second frosted surface area are suitable for selective reception of indicia thereon. This patent again teaches away from the direct printing or provision of information on a microscope slide without first providing for treatment of the surface of the slide to which the information is to be applied.
Printers are known providing for the printing of pertinent information onto white or colour-painted slides. Similar instruments are likewise known for printing onto cassettes, either cassettes with hinged lids or cassettes without lids. Data may be entered through a standard keyboard or by linking the instrument to a laboratory computer, in which case information is downloaded from the computer to the printer through a memory storage device such as a buffer. The imprinting provided by these instruments is said to bc resistant to all normal laboratory solutions, for example such as are used for staining slides and in the treatment of cassettes. However, the instruments in question are individually adapted either to slides or cassettes, so that a laboratory handling both slides and cassettes requires two instruments, one for slides and the other for cassettes, which, while appropriate in a large operation handling considerable numbers of both slides and cassettes, for example, in separate slide-only and cassette-only laboratories, may not be best suited to a smaller laboratory, with lower levels of slide and cassette throughput. A significant financial outlay is required for the provision of two machines, and an operatives versatility is also restricted, in that a change from slide labelling to cassette labelling or vice versa requires moving from one instrument to the other, both factors being potentially disadvantageous in a smaller laboratory handling both slides and cassettes. These known instruments do not therefore provide for selective labelling of slides and cassettes within a single unit or system, at the option of the operator.
In another known system, a diamond stylus is used to engrave information on glass slides. This manner of operation results in the necessity for glass dust to be collected within the machine, while a relatively high level of breakages may also be experienced.